He translated another version of the Dhammapada, which can also be found in English. His book, Sakyasimhavadanaya hevat Buddha Charita (The Life of the Buddha), is considered a textbook. He lived a modest life in a secluded monastery, however, so is little known outside his native country.Īnanda Maitreya Thero wrote nearly fifty books on suttas (scripture), vinaya (monastic discipline), on abhidhamma (metaphysics), and on Pali and Sanskrit grammar. Through his meditations, he was believed to have achieved the highest level of spiritual development within the Sri Lankan sangha (Buddhist monastic order). Balangoda Ananda Maitreya (Aug– July 18, 1998), a Sri Lankan scholar-monk, was a personality of Theravada Buddhism in the twentieth century.
